Ron Rosembaum (re Pale
Firings) Has anyone else noticed the contradictory logic of B.
Boyd and his loyal defenders in regard to the role of Hazel Shade in <Pale
Fire>? On the one hand we are told by Jerry Friedman that Boyd never
<really> argued for the role for the dead girl's ghost in
writing/inspiring <Pale Fire> or "Pale Fire" On the other hand we are
told with unconvincing muse-ings such as that from R.S. Gwynn that, if in fact
Boyd did so argue (as most would agree he did), he was right. I agree with Jansy
that they are wrong on both counts. I think the problem is that Boyd (and many
others) are too eager to offer a "solution" to <Pale Fire> as if it were
some crossword puzzle rather than a luminous numinous work of art.
JM: I haven't re-read Brian Boyd's book to opine about the
authorship-theme (Hazel's insufflating her father's poem), as it's
possible for "Boyd's loyal defenders." However I still believe that my
recollection of Boyd's overall argument is sound [as posted on
04/08/2010:I think it perfectly valid to consider that, in one level
(ie: of the plot, as concocted by Kinbote, namely, the novel itself)
it was Hazel who inspired Shade's hand. I don't subscribe to this
theory ...but I don't see why this idea clashes with any subsequent
arguments about Nabokov's authorship of the poem taken in isolation.]
R.R is right when he places me among those who
avoid a definitive "solution to Pale Fire." And yet I should
also like to be included among those who think that there's not a
definitive solution to the issues of embracing, denying, finding or
working over a solution to Pale Fire.